Why Higher Education Has Become a Bubble

When the Price Outpaces the Value

Many are saying that higher education has become a “bubble”— a term I only heard before related to housing or other similar industries. But not on education, this was the first time. So, as usual, I starting diving in into the subject, doing a bit of research, and as I kept reading more and more, I’ve started realizing that it reflected the opinion I have more quite some time, a situation where the price of higher education tuition is disconnected from its real usefulness in today’s society, except within in a few special areas, and where the system is trying to avoid collapsing because people are losing faith in its value, and it’s trying to reinvent itself by creating alternatives.

In the last decade, the landscape of higher education has changed dramatically. The cost of attending university has grown much faster than the actual value that a degree provides to most people. At the same time, alternatives like online training and certification have become more accessible, more effective, and much less expensive.

In the past, a degree was seen as the main way to enter good jobs and have a stable, successful career. However, if we look back, many of the world’s most important academic achievements and innovations were created by people who never had a formal degree. In fact, the very concept of a university degree was invented by scholars and thinkers who learned by doing, not just by studying.

Today, a degree is not a requirement for most jobs in our society. With rapid advances in technology and the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) tools, there are many new job opportunities that did not exist before. For example, AI assistants and LLM (large language model) technologies now make it possible for a single person to create products, run businesses, or offer services that previously needed a whole team. Many people now learn skills “on demand” from online sources, gaining certifications from international organizations, often at a fraction of the cost and without ever setting foot in a physical classroom.

At the same time, many higher education courses have not adapted to the needs of modern society. Some degree programs still teach outdated material or skills that are not relevant anymore. As a result, many graduates discover that their degrees do not help them find good jobs, and they go on and move into entirely different industries. The old promise that a degree will always lead to higher earnings is now less true than before. While it is true that, on average, and initially, college graduates earn more than those without a degree, with time that isn’t true, since many way people become excellent responsible professionals that start to have higher earnings since they become more valuable, so the gap between the cost of education and the actual benefit in higher salary has shrunk for most degrees and schools. This is especially clear in an era when so much knowledge is available for free or at a low cost online.

On the other hand, many industries started to create their own courses, with their own curriculum, to fill the mark gaps, where no higher education existed for that industry, which is the case of the gaming industry.

One important criticism of higher education today is that it is less about learning real skills or knowledge and more about proving that a person can finish something. Many employers see a degree as proof that someone is reliable or good at memorizing, but not necessarily creative or able to think in new ways. Critics say that universities often “format” students to think alike and follow the same methods, rather than encouraging creativity or original thinking, and the main reason higher education is mainly creating workers instead of entrepreneurs. And if we take a real look at our society social classes, most wealth are from people that created their own way, or from people who choose higher education specifically targeted at entrepreneurship, investments and management, professions that lead to higher income.

Finally, the most significant sign of a bubble is when people stop believing that the asset is worth the price. For higher education, this is already happening. More and more people are deciding that college is not worth the cost, especially when they can get valuable training and certification online, recognized by top companies, for a much lower price. This shift has forced many universities to create their own online courses and programs, not for educational innovation, but to keep enrollment and revenue high.

In summary, higher education has become a bubble because its cost has risen far above its true value for most people. With technology, online learning, and the changing needs of the job market, the traditional degree is losing its unique place in society. Unless universities adapt and offer real value, the “pop” of this bubble may come sooner than we expect.

Why Higher Education Has Become a Bubble

When the Price Outpaces the Value

Many are saying that higher education has become a “bubble”—a term I had only heard before related to housing or similar industries. But never on education, this was the first time. So, as usual, I starting diving into the subject, doing a bit of research, and as I kept reading more and more, I realized that it matched the opinion I have held for quite some time: higher education tuition is becoming disconnected from its real usefulness in today’s society—except in a few specialized areas. But now, it seems the system is already trying to avoid collapsing as people lose faith in its value, and it is trying to reinvent itself by creating alternatives.

In the last decade, the landscape of higher education has changed dramatically. The cost of attending university has grown much faster than the actual value a degree provides to most people. At the same time, alternatives like online training and certification have become more accessible, more effective, and much less expensive.

In the past, a degree was seen as the main way to enter good jobs and have a stable, successful career. However, if we look back, many of the world’s most important academic achievements and innovations were created by people who never had a formal degree. In fact, the very concept of a university degree was invented by scholars and thinkers who learned by doing, not just by studying.

Today, a degree is not a requirement for most jobs in our society. With rapid advances in technology and the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) tools, there are many new job opportunities that didn’t exist before. For example, AI assistants and LLM (large language model) technologies now make it possible for a single person to create products, run businesses, or offer services that previously needed a whole team. Many people now learn skills “on demand” from online sources, gaining certifications from international organizations, often at a fraction of the cost and without ever setting foot in a physical classroom.

At the same time, many higher education courses have not adapted to the needs of modern society. Some degree programs still teach outdated material or skills that are no longer relevant in our society. As a result, many graduates discover that their degrees do not help them find good jobs, so they end up moving into entirely different industries. The old promise that a degree will always lead to higher earnings is now less true than before. While it is true that, on average, and at the beginning, college graduates earn more than those without a degree, with time this is not always the case. Many people without degrees become excellent, responsible professionals who eventually earn more as they become more valuable in their fields. The gap between the cost of education and the actual benefit in higher salary has shrunk for most degrees and schools. This is especially clear now, when so much knowledge is available for free or at a low cost online.

On the other hand, many industries started to create their own courses, with their own curriculum, to fill the market gaps where no higher education existed for that industry—such as the gaming industry.

One important criticism of higher education today is that it is less about learning real skills or knowledge and more about proving that a person can finish something. Many employers see a degree as proof that someone is reliable or good at memorizing, but not necessarily creative or able to think out-of-the-box.

Many critics, including me, say that universities often “format” students to think alike and follow the same methods, rather than encouraging creativity or original thinking, which hinder real innovation. This is a main reason higher education is mainly creating workers instead of entrepreneurs. If we take a real look at our society’s social classes, most wealth is from people who created their own path, or from those who chose higher education specifically focused on entrepreneurship, investments, and management—professions that lead to higher income.

Finally, the most significant sign of a bubble is when people stop believing that the asset is worth the price. For higher education, this is already happening. More and more people are deciding that college is not worth the cost, especially when they can get valuable training and certification online, recognized by top companies, for a much lower price. This shift has forced many universities to create their own online courses and programs—not for educational innovation, but to keep enrollment and revenue high, and avoid becoming obsolete.

In summary, higher education has become a bubble because its cost has risen far above its true value for most people. With technology, online learning, and the changing needs of the job market, the traditional degree is losing its unique place in society. Unless universities adapt and offer real value, the “pop” of this bubble may come sooner than we expect.

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